June 16, 2009 (Austin, TX)- The El Paso Patriots will face the Austin Aztex from USL 1 tonight for the second round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at Nelson Field at 7:30p.m. CT. The Patriots defeated the Arizona Sahuaros 2-1 at Patriots Stadium last Tuesday to keeps their hopes alive. Four amateur teams reamain including Ocean City Barons, Chicago Fire, Sonoma County Sol, and El Paso Patriots. The Winner of tonight’s match will face a team from Major League Soccer for the third round of the Open Cup to be played on Tuesday, June 30.
"It is not going to be an easy game for the Patriots.",commented Vice President Diana Cervantes. "Including tonight’s match would be the third game for the Patriots in less than 7 days."
For complete coverage on the second round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup please visit www.usopencup.com as tonight’s match will feature live blogs beginning at 6:30p.m. ET.
HOW THEY GOT HERE
El Paso: 2-1 win vs. Arizona Sahuaros (USASA), first round
Austin: 2-0 win vs. Mississippi Brilla (PDL), first round
DID YOU KNOW ...
In 16 Open Cup matches, spanning 8 tournaments (including 2009), El Paso has never faced another team from Texas.
PREVIOUS MEETINGS
While the Patriots have never faced Austin’s USL-1 club, they will hope a repeat of their encounter with the Aztex’s U23 PDL team does not occur. On May 22, El Paso lost 4-0 to the junior Aztex, with Juan Cruz scoring twice.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
El Paso
Michael Griego: The team’s leading scorer (3 goals, 2 assists in 7 games)
Edgar Mendoza: He went to a small school at St. Joseph’s College, but has played big for the Patriots, scoring a pair of goals and adding two assists in the 2009 season.
Jorge Muniz: The former Laredo Heat player is the club’s #1 goalkeeper has a 1.14 GAA and three shutouts.
Austin
Yordany Alvarez (MF) – Alvarez came to the U.S. as part of the Cuban U-23 team, which came to Tampa in March 2008 for the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament. Alvarez and six other players defected. After a failed trail with the Los Angeles Galaxy, Alvarez signed with Austin, and leads the team in points with 8 (3 goals, 2 assists).
Lyle Adams (D) – The native of Kingston, Jamaica spent 2006 & 2007 in the PDL, then was drafted by D.C. United in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft. Adams decided to try to catch on in Europe, but after failed trials with teams in Austria and Switzerland, he signed with Austin. He has been named to the USL First Division Team of the Week twice.
Eddie Johnson – No, not THAT Eddie Johnson, this one is from England. He began his career with Manchester United, but made only one appearance as a sup in a League Cup game in 2003. For the next three seasons he was loaned out to three different clubs before catching on with Bradford City. He finished his time in England with Chester City, and was allowed out of his contract in January 2009 as the club was facing financial hardships. He also appeared with England at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship.
OPEN CUP HISTORY
While the Aztex are making their cup debut as a professional club, their PDL team qualified in 2008, losing to the Atlanta Silverbacks on penalty kicks in the first round. The Austin Lone Stars of the D3 Pro League made three straight Open Cup appearances (1997-1999).
El Paso has made seven previous appearances, two with the USISL Select League, three as a member of the A-League, and two with the PDL. Of Course, their standout performance was finishing as runners-up to the Richmond Kickers in the 1995 Open Cup Final.
